Week 1, Term 4, 2022

Dear Parents, Staff, Students and Community members,

Welcome back and welcome to those new families who have joined the community over the holiday break. I hope and pray that the journey of our learners new and old to St Saviour’s Primary is a rewarding one. There is much to look forward to this term for our community.  Numerous events are occurring this term, and I encourage you to monitor the school calendar on SENTRAL app or the School Facebook page to keep up with what is happening.

I draw your attention to the following events in the next few weeks:

Week 2:

Monday 1^st assembly for Term 4

Tuesday – Year 3 attend Parish Mass at the Cathedral

Wednesday – Book Fair begins

Thursday - Audiologist visiting to conduct hearing tests for selected students

Thursday & Friday – Year 5 Camp

Week 3:

Monday and Tuesday -  SSPS host James Nottingham and Catholic schools

Wednesday – Prep 2023 Transition Day 2 9a.m. – 10:30a.m.

Friday – Mercy & Grandparents Day 9:30a.m. start

Week 4:

Tuesday - Parent Engagement Meeting 

Staff Updates: (previously issued on Tuesday via the SENTRAL app)

We welcome onboard the SSPS staff team this term, Mr Warren Farquharson as our new groundsman.  Warren will be on-site on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of each week.  He has experience of maintaining large school grounds and has been busy during the holidays ensuring our school grounds are ready for our children to enjoy playing.

Over the holidays, Assistant Principal Religious Education (APRE) interviews took place.  I thank the panel members: Fr Michael O’Brien, Mr Paul Murphy and Ms Angela Travers from Toowoomba Catholic Schools Office.  I am very pleased to announce and welcome Mrs Ann-Maree Ward as our APRE for 2023.

Ann-Maree is an active parish member and is true testament to encouraging the faith development of our young learners and supporting SSPS families. She is very excited to be taking on this leadership role and we look forward to Ann-Maree’s contribution to the religious life of our school.  

From late October 2022, I will be moving to the position of Acting Director: Education Services in the Toowoomba Catholic Schools Office until early March 2023.  While I am looking forward to undertaking the role of acting Director for a few months there is a substantial part of me that will miss being a part of the SSPS community. The school will be well led by the highly capable Mr Sam Hannant as Acting Principal.  He will be assisted by Mrs Judy Smith and Mrs Ann-Maree Ward.  I look forward to returning mid-term one in 2023.

Mrs Ann-Maree Ward will take on the role of APRE for 3 days per week and 2 days continuing as Year 6 class teacher from October 31^st 2022. Mrs Janelle Wann will teach Year 6 for the other 3 days in a job share arrangement till the end of the year.

Term 4 is a very short term of only nine weeks, with only seven teaching weeks until Semester 2 reports are finalised in readiness for distribution online in the last week of school. Teachers have been instructed to commence learning from Day 1 to ensure all our learners are given every opportunity to achieve academic success. Academic success comes about through sustained effort over some time. As this term is short, the time to start is now.

A welcome visitor for both staff and students this week was Mrs Natalie Lancuba and baby Hugh, they were certainly the highlight for us all.  

All the best for the term ahead.

Madonna Sleba

Principal 

Dear Parents and Carers,

MERCY DAY/ Grandparents' Day:  Friday October 21 (end of Week 3) has been designated as our Inaugural Mercy Day, where we celebrate and give thanks for the contributions of Catherine McAuley and the Srs of Mercy to the history of our school. This will be a focus at our whole school Mass, at 9:30 as well as various activities prior to and on the day.

As we did last October, we are warmly welcoming any Grandparents of our students who are able to join us, from 9:30-12:30. With the following planned...

9:30 Mass at St Pat's Cathedral

10:30 Morning Tea on the oval

11:15 All classrooms open, with various activities happening

12:30 Grandparents gather in Mercy Centre for a final song (Choir) and farewell.

To assist with the catering for Morning Tea, this year we are asking for parents to complete an RSVP to indicate probable numbers attending. The link for this RSVP is attached here and has also been sent via Parent Portal and we ask that it is completed by 4pm Tuesday October 18.

https://forms.office.com/r/K19HSPM6mC

Students are encouraged to wear a shirt/ top in their House Colours, along with their sports shorts and joggers. Year 6s are asked to wear their Leadership Shirts and all those who have the coloured sports hats, bring those along for outside activities. 

Any parents who are able to send a plate of food along to share for morning tea, this would be most welcome as we are expecting quite a crowd. 

October is MISSION MONTH

As the world witnesses the ongoing devastation of famine and drought in the Horn of Africa, Catholic Mission invites us to respond to the call of Pope Francis, to be a witness of love in the world. During this World Mission Month we are encouraged to walk hand-in-hand with the people of Ethiopia and local church communities towards providing life-changing opportunities to those in most need.

All classes have access to Catholic Mission resources and will be raising awareness and funds. 

Term 3 AWARDS: Cornerstone and Encouragement AWARDS were presented at our end of Term 3 Assembly. Congratulations to the following awardees. 

Farewell Bill Moore

Last term we gathered to say "Thank you and Farewell" to our long term groundsman, Mr Bill Moore, who has been looking after our grounds and gardens for nearly 3 decades. His knowledge, particularly during building projects, has been invaluable as, amongst many other things, he  knows where every underground pipe is laid. He has been the unblocker of pipes and drains and the rescuer of hats from the roof and balls from the Ruthven St gardens. Bill, pictured here with his wife Natasha, is looking forward to a well earnt rest before spending more time helping his children with their yards!! Thank you Bill!!

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome back to Term 4 and I hope everyone enjoyed their spring holidays.  It has certainly been great hearing stories from various children over the last few days, mainly about trips to the beach.

Term 4 is a shorter term (9 weeks) that is filled with several significant events:

13-14 October - Year 5 Camp.  This camp is the start of a big term for the Year 5 students who are preparing to become the Year 6 leaders in 2023.  

17-18 October - James Nottingham is visiting the Toowoomba Diocese and will be teaching lessons at St Saviour's Primary School.  James is a world renowned education expert who has a special passion for transforming the most recent research into strategies that work in the classroom.  James is best known for his work on the Learning Pit.  On this day, we will welcome teachers from other schools in the Diocese to St Saviour's Primary.

21 October - Mercy and Grandparents' Day.  Details mentioned in Judy's newsletter article.

25 October - Parent Engagement Network Meeting in the staffroom from 5.15pm.  All parents are welcome to attend.

28 October - World Teachers' Day and Day for Daniel Dress Up.  Held annually on the last Friday of October, Day for Daniel honours the memory of Daniel Morcombe. The Daniel Morcombe Foundation asks all Australians on this very special day to Wear Red, Educate and Donate.  Further information to come in the near future.

31 Oct - 2 Nov - Year 6 Camp.  Our Year 6 students will travel to Currumundi for their annual camp.  Year 6 parents, please keep an eye out for further information and permission forms in the coming days.

23 November - Final Whole School Mass (Time and venue TBA)

24 November - Christmas Concert after school (Further details to come)

30 November - Tranisition Morning for all students to their new class for 2023.  

1 December - Final Awards Assembly for 2022 (Time TBA)

2 December - Year 6 Graduation & Final Day for 2022

Certainly a lot to look forward to this term and I look forward to engaging with not only students, but parents and community members as well.

Sam Hannant

Assistant Principal

Our annual Scholastic Book Fair will run from Wednesday afternoon 12th October until Tuesday afternoon 18th October. We look forward to your support as the commission buys new books for the student collection. Flyers will be sent home early next week with details for online payment if you aren't able to come into the fair. We are happy to keep any purchases a secret if you wish to purchase books for Christmas. Please email me anne.anderson@twb.catholic.edu.au if I can help in any way.

Year Four Catholic Touch Football Gala Day 

Year Four students competed against other Catholic schools in Touch Football in the last week of Term Three. All students are to be commended on their sportsmanship and the way they represented St Saviour’s Primary on the day. Everyone played with heart and determination with lots of fun had by all teams (pictures attached). 

Judo 

Joe Humphreys competed at his first ever Judo competition in the September holidays. He came 2nd for his weight class in Division Two in the Judo National Schools Competition. Fantastic effort Joe (picture below)

Zone and Darling Downs Trials 

All Zone and Darling Downs trials will be placed on Parent Portal. Please check Parent Portal regularly or set up notifications on your phone if you wish for your child to be eligible to trial for Zone and Darling Downs sporting teams as you will be required to obtain paperwork from myself. I am unable to nominate students after the closing date so please make sure you do keep an eye on Parent Portal. Any questions, please contact me at brendan.luck@twb.catholic.edu.au. 

Cheers 

Brendan Luck 

HPE Teacher 

Year 5/6 Camp Payments:

Payments for Year 5/6 Camps are now overdue.  Please arrange for payment to be made by Friday 7 October, if you have not already done so.  Thank you.

Fantastic Workers

Last Term some boys visited Mr Hannant from Prep with some fantastic work that they had been working on in class.  All the boys read to Mr Hannant and all received a sticker from him for their amazing writing.  It is so wonderful to see how far our Preppies have come with their writing and reading this year.

Sentral for Parents

Please remember to check for updates, notifications and permission slips on Sentral.  This is the way we do communicate with families, so it is important that you regularly check and keep updated with what is happening at school.  If you are having any problems accessing or logging on to Sentral please contact the office.  If your contact details have changed please contact the office and advise of this accordingly.

Absentees

Reminder that all Absentees need to be communicated to the office by 9.00 am each day.  Thankyou.

Parking

Reminder please to all families to not park down the service driveway entrance off Neil Street.  These parks are strictly for Administration and deliveries.  Parents who are parking on the Boarding School circular driveway, please note that this is also strictly out of bounds and is only to be used for Boarding School trafffic. The College has also informed us that some parents are parking in the designated College Administration parks at the top of the service driveway in Neil Street.  This also is strictly a no parking area.  Thank you.  Please be mindful that the school zones are strictly 40k limit.  

Thank you

Thank you to Mrs Kylie Bonafini and Mr Alexandre Bonafini (parents of Amany in Year 3) who have kindly donated to our school boxes of hand sanitiser.

Mr & Mrs Bonafini are the owners of the OMG store at Wyalla Plaza and we are extremely greatful to them for their kind donation.  If you are shopping at Wyalla Plaza, pop into OMG.  They have a great range of gift lines and with Christmas only a few months away, you will be sure to find something special. 

This term we are excited to launch our Wellbeing Hub. You will find a link to the Wellbeing Hub on the Student Intranet Homepage, here. You will find a variety of social and emotional wellbeing resources for students and families to explore, including our new online Bullying Reporting Form.  

How students, staff and the community report known or suspected cases of bullying is a critical part of any effort to address bullying. This new confidential online reporting form is designed to empower students\and families to take a stand against bullying and safeguard our student body, as well as ensuring students impacted by bullying can access appropriate supports and advice. All forms are kept confidential and sent directly to our school Principal, Assistant Principal and School Counsellor for immediate action.  

To launch this new platform, I will be visiting Grades 4, 5, and 6 in Weeks 1 and 2 of this term to review our understanding of bullying, introduce the new bullying reporting form and practise filling in the form using a variety of scenarios.  

For more information about bullying and to continue these important discussions at home, you are welcome to hop on the Wellbeing Hub website and explore its contents, visit Bulling No Way! or the eSafety commissioner.  

If you’d like to share any thoughts or feedback regarding our new Wellbeing Hub or Bullying Reporting Form, feel free to email me at anne.woodcroft-brown@twb.catholic.edu.au  

Headspace

Headspace will be visiting our Grade 6 classes on November 15th 2022 to deliver a workshop aimed at helping students understand how the transition to high school may impact their mental health, how they can manage stress from change, build resilience and healthy coping skills, and strengthen a sense of connection and belonging. 

A parent and carer session will also be offered on November 15th at 5:00pm at St Saviour’s Primary School. The parent workshop will upskill on how to connect and communicate with your young person, increase knowledge about how to support them during this transition period, and where to access professional support.  

If you’d like to attend the Parent and Carer workshop, please indicate your interest via the following form: https://forms.office.com/r/n5SBCNC8hR  

Anne Woodcroft-Brown

School Counsellor 

Chess Club is held at St Saviour's every Friday morning before school.  

Last Term on Assembly the children were shown a Power Point presentation that was created by several of the students who attend Chess Club. 

Special thanks to Liam McHugh, Hari Vinod, Kyara Flanagan and Oliver Pavao who were part of the special presentation for Chess Club.  We encourage anyone who would like to join Chess Club to contact Mrs McHugh in Year 2M for further details. 

School Dayz Uniform Shop:

New Opening Hours for the remainder of the Term and school year.

Monday:     2.30pm - 4.00pm

Friday:       3.00pm - 5.30pm

Saturday:    Weeks 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9  11.00am - 1.00pm

Term Holidays and all other times by appointment only.  0481 318 398.

Dan Eagleson 

Uniform Shop Supplier

Grandparents' Day

Grandparents' Day this year is being held on Friday 21^st October.  We are providing a morning tea for our wonderful Grandparents to enjoy after attending Mass.  If you are able to make a slice (or similar),  or donate your time on the day to help with setting up and serving etc could you please contact Tash Biggar on 0408986317.  I am also in need of 2 people who would be willing to help me make sandwiches  at approximately 7.30am on that day.

Volunteers Needed

Please consider volunteering some time in the Tuckshop this term.  If you can spare some time (even an hour) we would greatly appreciate it.  The Tuckshop is run by Volunteers and it is crucial that we have volunteers to keep the Tuckshop operational.  If you could spare some time please contact Tash in the Tuckshop or phone her directly on 0408 986 317.

No Tuckshop Wednesday 12th October

Tuckshop will not be operating this Wednesday.  Please ensure that you pack lunch for your children this day.  All orders that were placed via Flexischools have been cancelled and money refunded.  Apologies for the inconvenience.  

World Science Festival Queensland

Please click on the following link to access the information on World Science Festival Queensland being held this Saturday 9 October.

2022 World Science Festival Queensland: Toowoomba Open Day - World Science Festival Brisbane